against him, since this procedure directly affects the right to freedom. On this issue, the NIHR expressed its views confirming the importance of reducing the period of custody and granting the accused the right to an effective remedy, judicial appeal remedy which must be in the form of a hierarchical grievance so as not to grant exclusive power to issue such a decision to a single authority and avoid arbitrary decisions. 4.5 The NIHR commends the promulgation of Law No. (18) of 2017 on Penalties and Alternative Measures, which includes the penalties and alternative measures in criminal matters. It defines such penalties and measures, their implementation conditions, and the competent authorities, as this Law constitutes a qualitative leap in criminal policy toward deterring perpetrators and reintegrating them as useful members of the society, in addition to providing them with psychological, moral and social rehabilitation. 4.6 In view of the powers granted to the NIHR to monitor and fulfill out field visits to observe the status of human rights, it attended a number of trial sessions for entities and individuals. In this regard, the NIHR confirms that attending the trial sessions is for the purpose of reviewing and verifying the judicial procedures and achieving justice in the trial of the accused. The NIHR, in the cases that were attended, considers that the proceedings of the competent court and its handling of the trial proceedings took into account the fundamental principles of human rights and the prescribed legal controls, in addition to activating the guarantees of fair trial, taking into consideration the principle of the presumption of innocence, and that the accused is innocent until Parallel Report by the National Institution for Human Rights of the Kingdom of Bahrain to the Human Rights Committee © 2018 32